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By Kris Harrell 

Staff Writer

 

Chief Deputy David Scruggs of the Butler County Sheriff’s Department has been selected as The Greenville Advocate’s Hero of the Week. 

Scruggs has been chief deputy since early 2022, when he was promoted by Butler County Sheriff Danny Bond after going above and beyond the call of duty to keep the department running smoothly in Bond’s absence in late 2021. 

“At the time that Sheriff Bond got sick, I was actually working the road as a K9 deputy,” Scruggs said. “We didn’t have a chief deputy at the time, and we were in the process of moving from the courthouse to our new office… I just stepped up and took [the duties] on myself. Me and a couple other deputies made sure it all got done.” 

The Sheriff said Scruggs proved invaluable during his absence and stood out as the obvious candidate for vacant chief deputy position.

“When I got out of the hospital and found out what had transpired, I decided to go ahead and promote him to the position of chief, and he has helped me tremendously since then,” Bond said. 

In the role of chief deputy, Scruggs oversees day-to-day operations for the department and assists in the budgeting of the Sheriff’s office and the Butler County Jail. Additionally, Scruggs keeps track and makes sure officers and deputies are signed up to complete any training needed. 

Scruggs began his law enforcement career in 1985, and he worked as a dispatcher for the Town of Georgiana. Scruggs pursued a career in emergency management services (EMS) before attending a police academy and returning to Georgiana in 2006 as a certified police officer. 

“I felt the need to be able to help other people, to serve and protect,” Scruggs said. 

The veteran officer has served over 18 years in a variety of roles in law enforcement in Georgiana, Greenville and Andalusia, working as a patrol officer, K9 officer, shift supervisor and as a police chief. 

Of those 18 years, Scruggs has spent the last five at the Butler County sheriff’s office as a deputy and chief deputy. 

“[Scruggs] tries his best to treat everybody the way you want to be treated,” Bond said. “He believes in helping people, he wants to help people, that’s part of what makes him who he is.”